OUR EXPERTISE:

Apr 19 2010

B2B Social Media Sessions that You Must Attend at NewComm Forum 2010

April 19, 2010 – 11:34 am

By Priya Ramesh

I am eagerly looking forward to joining my extended social media family this week at NewComm Forum in San Mateo, CA, April 20th-23rd. It’s like a home coming for communications pros who are also in the front and center of helping brands get more social. As I glance over the nicely done conference brochure, there are two sessions that I think anyone engaged in B2B marketing would greatly benefit from so thought I would share it with you just in case you are attending NewComm Forum.

How to Manage Your Social Media & Online Authority for Business Benefits
Wed, April 21, 3:15PM – 4:15PM

If you are in the B2B space, you probably have the luxury of having to quantify, calculate and re-calculate your social media efforts every single quarter. I hear your pain.  Have you then understood the ROI of making your business an influential voice online? “By understanding authority and influence, organizations can use social media in ways that bring true value to their company.” Dharmesh Shah, CTO and founder of HubSpot and the author of top ranking startup blog, OnStartups.com will help you learn how companies and individuals can measure the power and influence you and your competitors have online. I am looking forward to Dharmesh’s session to also specifically understand what new features in  a social network are measurable and how to use this data to maximize a company’s social presence. I am a big fan of HubSpot, a valuable resource for B2B social media and looking forward to this session being presented by the man that built HubSpot, Dharmesh Shah.

B2B Social Media Marketing- Really!
Thu, April 22, 11:15AM – 12:15PM

Listed under the New Communications and Communities track, Paul Gillin, editor-in-chief and executive editor of Computerworld magazine and well known columnist for BtoB magazine will be talking about social media marketing best practices. Quoting the NewComm Forum brochure, “Conventional wisdom says that social media isn’t appropriate for B-to-B marketing. Conventional wisdom is wrong. Across the corporate landscape, businesses ranging from banks to high tech firms to plumbing supplies are successfully applying social media tools to connect with customers, channel partners, and suppliers. B-to-B social media marketing isn’t just about blogging anymore.” I follow Paul Gillin on Twitter and I am excited to finally meet him in-person @NewCommCollab.

A huge THANK YOU to Jen McClure, President of the Society for New Communications Research and all of you working tirelessly to bring in some of the best minds in social media to NewComm Forum. If you are at NewComm Forum, say a hello to me @newpr and we can chat up. If not, stay tuned for highlights coming from NewComm Forum, one of the hard core social media events, right here on Buzz Bin.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
Apr 15 2010

Can Social Media Supercharge Dr. Visits?

April 15, 2010 – 6:00 am

By Jenn Riggle

People may be going to the Internet for health information, but the Internet isn’t going to replace doctors. Actually, it may improve communication between doctors and patients.

Today, a typical doctor visit lasts only 15 minutes. That’s why it’s important for people to know what they want to discuss before they meet with their doctor. Social media and the Internet can give people the tools they need to formulate their questions so they can make the most of their 15 minutes.

A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of iVillage shows that 30 percent of women go to online sites to prepare for their doctor visits. In addition, 49 percent of all women online said the Internet is the first place they go to research a health question.

Why are they seeking health information? Research from direct marketing agency Epsilon reports that most people seek health information for emotional reasons. This explains why so many people are flocking to online health communities. They’re seeking health information, but more importantly, they’re seeking emotional support.

Disease-specific online communities are nothing new. In fact, many online communities, like ADHD Allies on Facebook and CML Earth, a global social network for people with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies (McNeil Pediatrics and Novartis, respectively). There are also patient care Web sites like Carepages and Caringbridge that allow families and friends to stay in touch with loved ones during a major illness or crisis.

However, some major players are beginning to create online communities. In March, WebMD introduced WebMD Health Exchange, where registered visitors can create or contribute to public or invitation-only groups. It also offers expert-moderated forums on the same topics, which are endorsed by WebMD. At the same time, Jeff Arnold, who founded WebMD, has partnered with Dr. Mehmet Oz, Discovery Communications, Sony Pictures and Harpo Productions to create a new site called Sharecare. This site will compile health information from a variety of sources, including celebrity physicians, hospitals and a variety of other health experts. The interesting thing is that both communities are talking about allowing major brands to create branded exchanges and post research findings on its own page on the site.

But people don’t have to go to an online site to access health information. Sometimes it appears in your e-mail inbox, as it does with a personal health records (PHR). One of my colleagues has been raving about how her PHR allows her to access her medical record, see test results, renew prescriptions and schedule appointments at her desktop. Correspondence comes directly to her e-mail (or Blackberry), so she doesn’t have to waste time waiting to talk to someone at her doctor’s office.

A national survey from California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) reports that 7 percent of adults currently use personal health records – and they credit PHRs for helping them take steps to improve their health. And while higher income people are more likely to have PHRs, lower income adults and those with chronic health conditions are more likely to benefit from having their health information available online.

Even though people have access to health information, there’s a lot of misinformation out there as well. A recent study published by the American Journal of Infection Control reported that over a four-month period in 2009, hundreds of Twitter users posted casual misinformation about antibiotics – which, in turn, reached more than a million of their followers. A Good Morning America segment about the study said that that inaccurate information ranged from people saying that antibiotics helped them get over their cold to people saying they were going to take leftover antibiotics to help them fight a chest cold. And while this study just looked at Twitter, it’s important to note that inaccurate health information appears on all types of social media, including Facebook, blogs and discussion forums.

Doctors engaging in social media can help to combat such misinformation. Dr. Bryan Vartabedian (@Doctor_V) wrote in his blog, 33Charts that physicians have an obligation to engage in social media. He argues that if each of the 60,000 members of the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote a myth-dispelling piece about the controversy about the autism-vaccine connection, “Google would be ruled by reason.”

Maybe Machiavelli had it right when he said people should carefully choose who tells them the truth. The same holds true when looking for health information online. The information is only as good as it source. Choose wisely.

Photo courtesy of .Larry Page

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Jenn Riggle | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (5)
Apr 14 2010

Promoted Tweets Will Help You Manage Online Reputation

April 14, 2010 – 11:01 am

By Priya Ramesh

It’s about time Twitter started monetizing. In my opinion yesterday’s official announcement to draw money from ads is not such a bad thing for companies already engaged on Twitter.

I have repeatedly said this and will say it again, while Twitter is considered the ultimate viral machine to get your message out faster and is very successful especially in cause-related campaigns, case in point, Haiti fund raising; it has also become the first stop for customers to post their complaints and grievances. I see how companies like @WellsFargo, @ComcastCares and @Netsolcares handle customer complaints on Twitter and kudos to them for taking customer service to a whole new level with 140 characters.  Having said that, when you do a simple Twitter search on specific products/services, chances are you see a stream of “I am having an issue with this,” or “I am tired of waiting on the phone with company X’s tech support.” Think about a prospect looking at a stream of negative tweets? Yeah, you guessed it, chances are they are now considering my competition.

With promoted tweets, companies can now join a conversation when it turns negative. Let me explain. Right now without the ads, businesses have no effective way to neutralize negative tweets. Traditionally businesses that do engage actively on Twitter respond one-on-one to negative tweets, and when an issue becomes a crisis they’ll write a blog response. Both these tactics can easily get lost in the Twitter stream. Quoting Anamitra Banerji, who manages commercial products at Twitter, “Companies will be able to increase awareness in that instance when the iron is most malleable.”

The biggest benefit of the Twitter ads in my mind is that now you have an opportunity to better manage your company’s image online. When someone does a search on a keyword that you bought, the promoted message will show up at the top of the results along with all the not so positive tweets. See examples of Starbucks and Bravo’s Twitter ads here. I am sure these socially engaged brands must see some value in Twitter ads! What about you?

Image Courtesy: Lori Gama (http://lorigama.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/did-you-know-youre-naked-your-online-reputation-is-showing/)


Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Priya Ramesh | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (4)
Apr 13 2010

A Tale of Two Damaged Brands

April 13, 2010 – 1:20 am

by Mike Mulvihill

Toyota just can’t stop sticking its finger in the proverbial light socket these days.  As my blog post back in early February lamented when the automaker took 10 days to communicate to the public about its rapid acceleration problems, Toyota’s approach to crisis communications has repeatedly been too little, too late. 

Now, just a week after being hit with a $16.4 million fine over the sticking gas pedal recall, a New York Times story on April 12 revealed an executive’s internal e-mail in January stated, “The time to hide on this one is over. We need to come clean.”   More evidence federal regulators say there was a deliberate effort to keep information about possible defects from the government during a four-month period between late September 2009 and mid-January 2010. All of which prompted Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood  to call Toyota “safety deaf.”  

Yet despite this self destructive approach to it massive recalls, Toyota sales were up 41 percent in the U.S. and 51 percent in Japan last month. According to Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, the strong sales performance last month is a reflection of its customers’ continued confidence in the safety and reliability of its vehicles and their trust in the brand. What Mr. Edmonds failed to note was Toyota has leveraged price and promotion during the past several months to maintain market share.  Not a bad strategy and one that obviously seems to be paying off at least in the short run. Long term?  It probably would be unwise to say the last shoe has dropped on Toyota’s obfuscating tactics, but Toyota’s many years building brand equity for high quality, reliable vehicles are outweighing the short term brand hits. Given their massive firepower to pour money into incentives, discounts, financing and promotion, Toyota has been able to buy off consumers to overlook their shortcomings.

The Tiger Woods brand may be another story.  Tiger’s brand is massive.  At an estimated $82 million, he is the number one athlete name brand – worth more than the next five athletes combined.

The PGA and Nike gladly provide him with a promotional platform.  But Tiger can’t figure price into his strategy (assuming he has one) – though perhaps Nike could have a fire sale on Tiger Wood’s golf equipment and accessories.

 Whatever you may think of Tiger’s recently revealed personal shortcoming, his return to golf was hotly anticipated. Masters Live, which streamed select holes from the 2010 Masters golf tournament, drew more than 556,000 unique users the first round of play last Thursday (when most fans had to “tune in” from their desks at work). That’s a 133 percent increase over the 239,000-plus viewers that streamed part of the Masters last year — and just shy of the 575,000 fans that streamed the Butler-Duke NCAA men’s basketball championship.

Whether these were people hoping to see the world’s best golfer return to center stage or just the curious hoping to see Tiger served “justice” for his misdeeds, he had the best first round he has every turned in.  And he stayed in the hunt for the first three days.  However, on the last day when Tiger usually surges to the lead, he instead faltered finishing fourth overall.

Not bad for someone who hasn’t played in months, but not good enough for Tiger. His post tournament inward-only focus, lack of sportsmanship and civility is perhaps indicative of just the superior attitude that got him into trouble in the first place – and which may eventually undermine his brand more than any mistresses ever could.  Oddly enough, it was Phil Mickelson who surged at the end to win – a man who has ardently stood by his wife (and his mother) as they battle breast cancer.

Tiger now says he is going to take some more time off to re-evaluate things. Stand by – the jury’s not in yet on how this brand will eventually fare post crisis. If nothing else, you can be sure of one thing. It will be interesting.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)
Apr 12 2010

Many Roads Lead to Rome

April 12, 2010 – 3:27 am
3326333071_16130569cc.jpg

Per my post last week, this will be my last regular contribution to the Buzz Bin (The Roman Road image by Erwlas). Before I begin, I want to thank my many loyal readers who said kind things to me off and online about the blog. You rock.

At first, I was tempted to pull my usual poorly read future technology post where I would wax poetic about the coming augmented reality boom, and how it would impact the online communications business. But that didn’t seem fair to you, so instead let’s discuss “The Right Way” to use social tools for online communications. I say that because so much of my early dialogue and many of the posts and conversations I see on Twitter and blogs concern themselves with The Right Way.

It seems fair to say now that there are many right ways. That many roads lead to Rome. I won’t go so far as to say all roads (you astroturfing turkeys), but that there remains more than one way to do this.

Consider this media form, and what the right way to blog is. I’ve stated my opinion, but that’s what’s worked for me. Some blog for incredibly long wandering lengths (my judgment), but are deemed to be top thought leaders. Others fail to link regularly or at all, rarely give credit to other bloggers, and don’t accept comments, yet they remain on top. Their staying power remains a testimony to their style — or if this was Kung Fu, their school — of blogging.

The same phenomena occurs with right or wrong ways to execute community management, participate in social networks, execute blogger relations, etc., etc. Many methods have produced results.

So, my parting thoughts are less absolute than a consultant’s probably should be. Yet my experience tells me that the Way is not as finite as many of us claim it to be. Instead perhaps we can share and cherish our many different experiences, our individual journeys that have yielded successes, and collectively accept them and use them to better ourselves and the general conversation about online communications.

Just a thought. Again, in parting, thank you. Writing for you about social media from a marketing communications perspective has changed my life for the better. I will always be in your debt for your feedback, loyalty and, in so many cases, newfound friendship. A lotus flower for you (Image by Swami Stream).

2134147919_efe0089540.jpg
Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in PR Industry Trends | Comments (5)
Apr 8 2010

Digital Recruiting and the Hot Health Care Job Market – Can Marketers Help?

April 8, 2010 – 9:00 am

Guest post by: Charlotte Evans

It is true. The HWS Labor Market Pulse® Index shows hospitals in the San Francisco Bay, Philadelphia and Tampa areas are ramping up recruitment, even though just last month other hospitals across the U.S. were laying off employees. As the economy continues to recover and health care reform shakes out, hospitals will be competing for the very best physicians and employees. And, it will be a contest between the savvy and digital-friendly hospitals versus those who lag behind.

Here are two examples of progressive recruiting:

  • Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Fla. attracts physicians through channels such as advertising on medical journal Web sites and outreach on online physician-only search networks. Physician-only networks including the heavy weight Sermo and Medscape Physician Connect continue to attract large numbers. Manhattan Research’s 2009 “Taking the Pulse” study reveals that 99 percent of physicians use the Internet so it is smart for hospital HR to recruit where their target audience is interacting.  Memorial’s physician recruiters agree that digital adoption among physicians is widespread, including older physicians.
  • HealthLeaders Marketing Editor Marianne Aiello reported how Geisinger Health System in Danville, Penn., used a Facebook page to recruit gastroenterologists. The page includes photos, recruitment event information and links to the system’s Web site. The return on the investment is still being calculated, but the marketing professionals believe that “outreach … has to be multi-pronged.”

By contrast, human resource staff at the recent HealthcareSource User Conference in Boston discussed the use of social media in recruiting. Of the 30 participating in a roundtable discussion, only two hospitals had a formal social media strategy for recruiting. Most admitted that they not only lacked a strategy but lacked knowledge of what to do. Several participants mentioned being cautioned by hospital executives to avoid social media for fear of what can be posted. The marketing department wanted to approve all postings, which seemed burdensome. Plus, recruiters didn’t know who should respond to negative posts.

These dilemmas weigh heavily on HR departments since Millennials, especially new nursing grads, expect employers to be conversant in digital communications. In just 15 years, the U.S. will be short 260,000 nurses. Wooing the young ones now is crucial.

It is time for the marketing and communications professionals to step in. Many departments have established digital communications including tweeting and streaming video during surgery. A number have social media policies – how to respond to negative comments and who responds. Marketers and IT departments have established policies on employee use of Facebook or Twitter (not during working hours), and social media staff know what to tweet and what not to tweet. Still other hospitals are using iPhone apps to reach consumers and smartphones to help surgeons report back instantly to the referring physician about the patient’s status.

Professional communicators know how to engage online users. They should reach out to HR staff to get them to use digital communications and reveal what is working for their hospital. Because public relations and marketing professionals depend on communications tools to reach targeted audiences, they are perfect for guiding HR, taking recruiters under their wings and assuring that HR supports the overall brand.

The landscape is hard to predict but recruiters – and marketers – don’t have time. If marketers want a high quality hospital to market, they need to reach across the hall and help recruiters attract a high quality work force – and a large enough one.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Guest Post | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)
Apr 7 2010

Being a voyeur is not a game anymore

April 7, 2010 – 11:22 am

We like the risk of being watched. The thrill of knowing people follow your every move with rapt attention strokes the ego and makes us celebrities in our own little bubble. It started with blogs, went to lifestreaming, now location awareness with push notifications is the big game in town. So why is location based technology the game changer for pushing social media to your doorstep?

Offerpal Monetization Logo

Location awareness is an increasing requirement in mobile usage as networks, handsets and content have improved to target this segment. Adding in the ego and gaming factor you now have users competing to hand over their valuable usage analytics and the start-up Foursquare is purportedly valued at $100 million. Foursquare is a proven tool for businesses with many examples ranging from the City of Chicago making city exploration fun, the Wynn Las Vegas’ unique approach to top notch service, to Starbucks’ desire to better understand their customers.

In my opinion a lot can be gathered with how quickly retail has picked up on Foursquare after having seen success with Twitter, the desire to not be left behind is pushing the competition. Since Foursquare has been on the scene for over a year it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. According to CEO and co-founder Dennis Crowley: Twitter didn’t reach the same adoption point until it was close to two years old.

Even with social detractors such as stalkers and the “Please Rob Me” uproar, it’s interesting to look at how quickly the momentum for location aware services is taking off. It pulls at the human nature to compete and be rewarded. This competition has fueled grassroots “swarm” badge meetups and unique thought to driving customers to non-retail oriented businesses. And with the new business tools I foresee the ability to convince your boss about why Foursquare is the new frontier to spend time.

social media strategy game

The real determining factor that Foursquare has made it is when you start seeing posts about how people quit using the service because they have moved onto the next big thing. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts the advent of Google Goggles and visual tracking makes combining these technologies as the next candidate to explode. I foresee with the current camera-based technology and location tracking ability, in the next 2 years, we will not give a second thought when our daily life ingrained with this technology as a utility.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Dave McNamara | Posted in Digital Marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)
Apr 6 2010

Greenies, do not despair. Obama has not forsaken you

April 6, 2010 – 12:19 am

By Mike Mulvihill

Young climate activists, who worked to mobilize voters in order to elect President Obama, are expressing great disappointment in the President’s recent announcement to expand oil leasing into large areas off the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico,

It’s Getting Hot in Here (dispatches from the youth climate movement) dismays their generation is getting screwed over by Obama’s offshore drilling plan.  “It’s like a kick in the face” says Jonathan Ruiz, a Florida International University student who spent 14 months campaigning for Obama..

Oh ye of little faith. Obama has learned how to play politics quite well in his limited time in national office.  His concession on off shore drilling is both a “chit” is his plan to pass a comprehensive climate bill and a concession that in reality may never yield a single drilling platform.

In a Forbes.com blog, Michael J. Economides, editor-in-chief of Energy Tribune, leading energy analyst, consultant, educator, petroleum engineer and author, compares Obama’s approach to a poker hand.  He postures that Obama’s movement on off shore drilling, while a positive step for increasing domestic energy resources, is just part of his strategy in a bigger game to gain passage of a climate change bill in Congress.  Furthermore, he correctly postulates that the EPA can kill or place so many hurdles in the path of increased off shore drilling as to effectively stymie any efforts.

Some, like America’s NewsOnline, have a more Machiavellian viewpoint.  They believe the Obama administration has no intention of increasing oil and gas exploration and is only using this announcement as a carrot for movement on its Cap-and-Trade bill (which off shore will eventually fall under as well).

Enough political drama, let’s look at this pragmatically.  In my adopted state of Virginia, newly minted Gov. Bob McDonnell has pledged to make Virginia “The Energy Capital of the East Coast.” He and our legislature have passed a number of green energy initiatives, including the creation of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority, as well as voicing support for expanded drilling in the Atlantic waters off Virginia.

But both the Navy (which has the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk) and NASA, which houses a rocket launch facility on Wallops Island on the Virginia Eastern Shore, have sent letters expressing concerns about offshore drilling in recent years. And both the Navy and NASA are just as likely to have great concerns with offshore wind farms disrupting their sensitive business.

Regardless of your political persuasion or environmental stance, the grim reality is that a gauntlet lays in front of any off shore drilling and, for that matter, off shore wind production with the heaviest odds laid against any new drilling initiatives ever coming to fruition.  So greenies have some faith.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Mike Mulvihill | Posted in Digital Marketing, PR Industry Trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)
Apr 5 2010

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

April 5, 2010 – 6:44 am

Cherry Blossoms in Blue

by Geoff Livingston

After four years and more than 800 blog posts published here on the Buzz Bin, it’s with some regret that next week’s post will be my last regular contribution to the blog. Though I may make a guest appearance here and there, this will be it.

Why, you ask? I have run out of things to say. I found last summer when I wrote the “for me, social media is dead” posts that I had run out of things to say. As we moved on to a group blog format again, Mondays were still a struggle to add something new to the conversation.

Two years ago, I ended the Now Is Gone blog for similar reasons. I feel like I am repeating myself. For example, while you may think FourSquare is a great new thing, I already blogged about it eight months ago! Yes, there’s room for continuing coverage, but… You get my point.

Though the pioneering phase is done or may be near done, it’s actually a robust time for social media. Widespread adoption is occurring and best practices within verticals continue. It’s just time for new voices here and abroad (YOU GUYS) to carry the social PR conversation.

In addition to the continuing efforts by my colleagues here, you can expect a blog post on Mondays from my able successor, Priya Ramesh. In addition to my personal efforts, I will continue to blog about nonprofit use of social media for Mashable, and on environmental issues for Live Earth.

So dear reader, though I may be a bit blue about ending such a long running personal project, let’s go out in style together next week. One more great post on social media coming your way!

Don’t Forget NewComm Forum

I would be remiss in failing to mention NewComm Forum is coming in two weeks from April 20-23. All of the best and brightest minds in PR 2.0 will be attending, including Priya, myself, Shel Israel, Shel Holtz, Beth Kanter, Kami Huyse, Neville Hobson, etc., etc. In all, 40 sessions in five comprehensive tracks including:

  • Online Communications & Communities
  • Social CRM
  • Markets are Conversations: From Theory to Practice
  • Understanding the New Media Landscape
  • NewComm Essentials

Keynoters include: Jackie Huba, online marketing expert and author; Dave Carroll, singer/songwriter, “United Breaks Guitars;” Scott Monty, Ford; Jack Holt, US Dept. of Defense; Tim Westergren, Pandora; and Neville Hobson, WeissComm.

If you are thinking about it, make sure to use the “Friend of a Speaker” discount code of NCF500. That brings the full conference fee down to $995. Please use this for as many people. Additionally, there’s an offer for a One Day Pass option for just $395. 

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Geoff Livingston | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (29)
Apr 2 2010

Big Companies: Good Agencies Are Horizontal

April 2, 2010 – 12:16 am

by Michael Whitlow

Sean Corcoran’s post this week for Forrester was interesting, as always. His research has companies sitting on the fence between giving social media work to their traditional ad agencies and putting it in the hands of generally smaller shops that specialize.

So (surprise) many big marketers are treating the digital pursuit of marketing in the same old way: call the ad agency for a presentation from a social media “group.” Many don’t consider their ad agency partners necessarily the best to do the work, but there is, perhaps, safety in staying with the big guys (see data at Sean’s link above).  Even as we see companies grapple with what Sean calls this ”purgatory” of not fully trusting their traditional agencies while not quite ready to believe that their social media/interactive agency is ready to lead, we also note that the use of social media by eager customers is continuing to increase. In fact, there were over 62 million inquires of the national Better Business Bureaus in 2009, with larger market BBBs getting more than 100,000 online visitors per month.

This relatively new world is also more horizontal than many realize, as Sean points out in the end of his post. This is the key. Many agencies are building monolithic social media capabilities when they really should be energizing and training all of their staff to weave these new strategies into the marketing plans for clients. The more social media stands alone, the more tactical the focus. The more integrated; the more strategic. It’s (almost) that simple.

For instance, at CRT/tanaka last week, we hosted a great group of communications students from James Madison University who participated with our employees from every office in a one-hour session; hearing from our own Priya Ramesh, a wonderful social media thinker and convener, and from John Wolf of Marriott, a seasoned veteran in the use of social media for his company.  Jay Berkowitz (www.tengoldenrules.com) did the same with us last month. Priya also circulates our work with others to the team (for instance, Jay Ehret), as a way of keeping us connected to the strategic importance of social media. Lots of sharing of information and methods.

Beyond simple integration challenges, there’s another reason to look horizontal. Measurement has continued to vex executives who’ve committed to social media for 2010 in a big way, and for many the measurement hurdle has caused them to turn a bit sour on the promise of social media.  In the correct, disciplined approach to measurement, there is an understanding and appreciation for the interaction of the pieces in the communications mix. 

Hubspot noted about some StrongMail reasearch “out of the 27% of respondents who claim to have already integrated social media into their email marketing strategy, thirty-five percent are reporting no improvement in their campaign performance.” While this statistic represents integration of a few elements (with a small “i”), it does point out the difficulty of have either a program that is too narrowly focused or a unrealistic expectation of improvement based on programs limited to using only a few tools.

So, it’s about horizontal, at least in part. Without skill, of course, you are lost. But, if more big companies begin to look at the true strategic significance of fully integrating social media into each and every corner of the enterprise, we’ll energize employees, create measurable customer responses, encourage promoters (Fred Reichheld, here) and keep a leg up on the competition. Good agencies on the way to being great will embrace this horizontal approach for their own success and that of their clients.

Bookmark and Share
 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button By Michael Whitlow | Posted in Digital Marketing | Comments (1)